Find Trucking Jobs

Six major carriers have asked the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration for an exemption waiver which would allow them to use hair follicle testing instead of urine testing for pre-employment drug screenings.

The carriers, all members of the Trucking Alliance, are J.B. Hunt, Schneider, Werner, Knight, Dupree Logistics and Maverick Transportation. They are not the first carriers to ask the FMCSA for an exemption, and this is not the first mention of it from the Trucking Alliance. In fact, the carrier advocacy group lists driver drug testing protocol reform as one of its chief objectives.

Carriers are currently allowed to require hair testing of their drivers, but only urine testing counts as a valid drug test for FMCSA pre-employment screening purposes. The Trucking Alliance argues that requiring urine testing even when hair testing is also being performed is expensive and unnecessary.

The carriers also argue that hair testing is a more accurate form of drug testing than urine samples since urine samples reveal drug use within the last 2-3 days, while hair testing can reveal drug use within the last 60-90 days.

Some who oppose using hair testing claim that false positives are not unheard of, with some people who were merely around certain drugs testing positive for having used them.

But those who are fighting for hair testing say that it is a matter of life and death.

“While we wait on HHS and FMCSA, we can possibly save lives with this exemption by keeping many hard drug users out of our trucks and off our highways.” said the managing director of The Trucking Alliance, Lane Kidd.

Testing using hair follicles does seem to be the direction things are moving in. The 2015 FAST Act even directs the FMCSA to accept hair tests, but only once the Department of Health and Human Services has established federal guidelines. The Department was supposed to have completed those guidelines by December 5th, 2016, but so far they have not been produced.

It is stated in the application that all of the carriers applying for the exemption “already use hair analysis as a method for pre-employment controlled substances testing of drivers on a voluntary basis.” The application only serves to save the carriers the cost of conducting a urine test at the same time.

Comments

I have always questioned the need to hair test. Yes, it will show drug usage over the last X amount of months, but was the driver on duty? Was he on home time? What about temporary use of prescribed narcotics? They’ll show and now the driver is in the company’s bulls-eye. Yes drugs are a problem, but so is alcohol. The argument that it can save so many lives doesn’t hold water. If a driver is off duty and home, can he not drink alcohol? It’s just as illegal if on duty (and just as dangerous). So if I take a codeine pill for three days (prescribed) and now anywhere near my truck, I’m taking the chance of being fired and black listed because it shows up in my hair, but it’s been 10 days or more since I’ve taken it? I think more random tests (urine) would be more effective.

If they do allow hair follicle testing the only way around that is to bring in your doctor’s prescription and receipt showing that it was prescribed to you on such dates to get around that,that’s not an excuse not to do hair follicle testing to possibly save lives. A minor inconvenience.

If you stand for nothing you fall for anything you sir are a flip flopper who will give away your rights at a low cost
That’s worth more than you’ll know especially when most states are legalizing marijuana every year . This is just the start of one of your freedom choices been taken away

Poetry makes a statement more memorable. It does not make that statement factually correct, nor does it imbue the speaker with special credibility or moral authority. It is the domain of rap artists, now, who lack the skill to actually sing about drugs, money, “beaches”, and guns – and while it draws an audience, it does not draw them to any useful or constructive purpose.

You and Max are on the same side, except that he actually had something to say on the subject at hand, Willis. Good job, undermining support for your own position, for no beneficial purpose. You must have been the star of your debate team.

Being right – or at least having something to say – is better than repeating generic and worn-out slogan rhymes.

Having a prescription will give you an excuse. It will not take you off the radar. Lots of people go from legitimate prescription use, to prescription abuse, sometimes without even being aware of it. Next will be pre-emptive drug abuse counseling and intervention, and then employer consultation as part of developing treatment plans for any injury or illness.

Your employer does not have the right to pry into your medical condition. This is to protect your right to work. If they get to study your medical history, they can make employment decisions based upon how your health impacts health insurance benefit costs for their insured group.

Yes, you need to be fit to work. But we have gone way beyond that, at this point. Carriers are not satisfied with a valid medical certificate, any more; you have to go to *their* doctor and be examined, often at your own expense, and then accept whatever treatment *they* dictate (again, often at you own expense), subject to monitoring and verification, as a condition of employment. How long before we are wearing heart-monitoring watches, tied to our elog systems via Bluetooth, so that the cameras all over the truck can be switched on whenever our heart rates rise? Will they call 911 during a heart attack, or just video our death throes?

Follicle testing tells them far more than they need to know, and the reason put forth for doing it is that it’s cheaper. So will they therefore do it more often? Do they just not care enough, to spend money to invade medical privacy?

The right over our own consciousness is surely the most fundamental liberty there is.
The fact that one can be a straight up alcoholic and drive a truck but someone else who smokes a joint on their off weekend could loose their career is outrageous.
The virtue signaling tools on this forum (who probably consume alcohol) disgust me. I am morally responsible to operate safely and that is all. If I want to alter my consciousness in my own home on my own time, that is strictly MY business and no one else’s.
So, flame-on all you self righteous hypocrites; I just ordered some hallucinogens on-line and plan on having a profound and beautiful experience during my up coming vacation time.

I’m with you Martin…test all you want if you can come up with a test that lets you know if I am intoxicated while on duty. Otherwise mind your own business. What I do in my off time is not my employer’s or the government’s concern.

Carriers are up our tailpipes about how well we breathe in our sleep. No chance on earth that they will leave you alone about casual drug use in your off duty time – even prescription drug use, under a doctor’s orders.

C’mon, guys… you knew that you had no right to privacy or to control over your own bodies, when employers gained the right to demand to watch the urine leave the most intimate parts of your body.

It’s every kind of wrong, but by now we should all realize that it is possible to be 100% in the right, and still be screwed.

Just keep your body shaved. It’s possible to make no hair available. I never done drugs, and don’t think one should before driving a truck. If one wants to be a tattoo artist or masseuse or one of any other vocations that it doesn’t matter, by all means do recreational drugs in a safe manner. But mind altering drugs and driving do not mix.

You should not have to shave all of your body hair off, each day, to protect your privacy. Moreover, even if this worked (and it won’t, they’ll find a hair in your nose, or up your bum, if they are suitably motivated), they will simply treat it as a refusal to submit to drug testing, put it on your DAC report, and effectively blackball you from future employment.

I tested positive when applying with Knightmare Trucking for cocaine by a hair test. I was 64 at the time and never used the stuff ever. Couldn’t tell it from another powder to save my life. Found out they use a cheap method that will produce false positives as opposed to the very expensive government follicle test. Most money you handle has some residue of cocaine on it and strict procedures should be followed prior to being tested or one may find oneself in the same predicament as I was. Luckily it wasn’t a career ender as I relayed my problem to my next employer. I just look at it as don’t work for these bottom feeders.

You guys that complain about prescription narcotic use . . . here’s a thought: try communicating with your company about what’s going on and what your doctor recommends. I’ve never had an issue doing so and have received some extra time off to be sure I’m ok. In addition (for those of you who are spooked), it never affected my runs/miles. I was never looked at or treated differently by anyone in the office. Communication is key.

“Communication is key”, but only in one direction. Perhaps my dispatcher should also keep me informed about the details of his marriage, or the size of his prostate gland. The distractions that these conditions cause, can distract him from his work, causing him to perform poorly, and possibly put me in harm’s way.

That’s BS, and we all know it. My *current* state of health *may* be relevant, in the broadest terms – but the pill that the dentist gave me so that he could pull that molar two months ago, is nobody’s business but mine and his.

It’s not relevant.

And if you spend any time at all in this business, you’ll rapidly learn that the catchphrase “communication is key” is A) meaningless; and B) only used to reproach drivers for decisions that we make because we’re Johnny-on-the-spot, and there is no one else available to make them. It seemingly does not apply to anyone else. Wrong address on the BOL or Qualcomm? What are the dock hours? Will the load you are sending me to pick up, fit into the trailer that you have me pulling? What kind of hazmat residue am I sweeping out of this trailer, and inhaling in a cloud of dust? Communication is not key, for those issues. Try telling them that it is, and see how far that gets you.

GOD HELP ALL OF THOSE SAID COMPANIES!!! Good luck and Godspeed hiring your Super clean drivers. It’ll be fun watching these companies about face and turn back to pee test…. or have to offer clean drivers ass loads of money to drive for them… come to think of it I hope they do this lol.

They’ll use the shortage of clean (and cheap) drivers, as an excuse to advance the acceptance of self-driving trucks, and force other vehicles to make way for the automated vehicles, because the technology isn’t sufficient to the task, otherwise.

Has autopilot put pilots out of work?
No.
Unless they can make a self-driving truck that’s an actual Transformer, there is no way we’re going to lose our jobs.
We are essentially going to be pilots and engineers, making sure everything is running fine, and taking the controls when we need to.

If you want to use drugs recreationally, I’m all for that, but you know coming into trucking, that it doesn’t fly. No one is stopping you from going and finding other avenues of employment.

Have you heard of “drones”? They are aircraft, without pilots on board, which perform the same tasks as manned aircraft. Are there still pilots with jobs? Well of course. But don’t expect it to be a growth industry.

They do what ever they want to They also know that they can get away with it. The primary reason ……..nobody’s going to do anything about it. We drivers have the power to stop a lot of these senseless rules and regulations but …… you can’t get two drivers to agree that it’s raining outside so my friends prepare to continue to get rode hard and put up wet. I’ve been riding around out here for 33 years and have 12 to go kinda doubt if I make it that long we shall see Have a great ride my friends!!!
SHORT CIRCUIT

I drive for JB Hunt, and I saw that story too, and I found it a little odd.
When I signed on, they specifically said in regards to hair follicle testing, if you don’t have hair on top of your head, which I would also extend to wearing a turban for religious reasons, they could take it from your beard, your chest, wherever else.
Whoever was running the hair follicle testing at the time screwed up by not making an exception in these cases, even though there is a precedent set for making such exceptions.

Watch Out! If you have any dental work done root canal or other work and and they give you Novacaine you will come up positive for cocaine use in a hair test so keep your papers in order so t you can show the Shit Company that you work for you are clean! Otherwise you will be looking for a New Job ! Also they cannot let your next Job employer about the positive results, Its not a Government approved DOT Drug Test ! Ps. Most companies are now doing it for pre-employment it’s legal for them to ask for it if you’re looking to go to work for those companies who ask for it.

What if I don’t have any hair on my body? these companies always trying to justify not wanting to pay a fair and decent wage. no wonder the trucking industry is not as lucrative as it was in my daddies days.

Hair drug testing can go back as long as the lenght of hair…so long hair it could see years worth of any drug testing…shaved body..dont forget pubic and under arm.. you would maybe get a days worth of drug use..

If you don’t have enough hair to get an adequate result, they’ll call it refusal to submit to drug testing, put it on your DAC report, and treat it as a positive result. But trust me, you have hair. In your nose, or up your bum… and if they don’t want to go there to get it, they’ll still treat it as a refusal to submit to testing.

You want hair testing? fine- start with the CEO- then do payroll, the mechanics, and most importantly- the dispatchers. A lot of times it is the people in the office that create most of the stress and anxiety that would make a driver that knows they could lose their job- even want to do this stuff. The big company I used to work for had at least 2 people I know of in the safety dept get nailed for drugs

Do they warn ahead when a piss test is to be made ??? Or can they just go random, no warning , say : “Ok you , you and you go for a test !!” I ve seen places where the drug test are made and employees are warn ahead. So that day , they don’t show up or stay clean although I don’t think it s a week ahead but sure one day if not two.
That sure takes away the purpose of the test !!!

Lmao.. Good luck big companies on keeping drivers.. What I do on my off time is my business not nobody else.. I can care less about what yall want.. What about us hard working drivers who has to leave there family at home so y’all can get what you need from the store.. I glad I’m not one of these guys who drive for yall.. Small company and make more money

I never understood drug testing to begin with. I don’t use drugs, and haven’t for many years. I don’t understand why drug use days and weeks back before the test has anything to do with that day. I don’t understand how alcohol can be legal and all other drugs aren’t. Last time I checked, alcohol is a drug too…..in the category of depressant. I could see denying employment if your getting tested and under the influence, but if you’re sober but it’s in your system, why does that matter?

Why would anybody want to drive for any of these companies that are so hellbent on controlling you and your privacy. I know, they have good benefits and all that. You can also get a mule to plow by hanging a corn cob in front of him, but you don’t have to give it to him when he’s done.

It’s all about money. These companies want to find any way they can to limit their liability. They have never and will never give a rat’s tail about safety or the drivers, or the general public. They only care about winning lawsuits and having the best defense in court that they can. Hence EOBRs, hair drug testing, driver-facing cameras, etc. Every one of these companies are running scared from the lawyers. It’s a sad state that we live in today that lawsuits control our lives. Perhaps if more people in general stood up to the corporations and legal system in this country, things would change, but instead, everyone wastes their time dreaming about a truck driver strike that will never happen.

When I applied to work at Schneider, I had to do a hair follicle test and I wish I could remember the facility because these a holes even though it says they can take a sample from anywhere on the body, this lady comes up and takes about 1/2 inch thick sample of my hair and just “snip” and I’m just sitting there in awe looking at this because my hair is down to the middle my back and this huge chunk of hair that she’s holding in her hands. I’m thinking what the hell?

One year later, because Schneider does a random hair follicle, I was chosen for testing again, this time in Portland, and I was furious. Of course, if I refuse, it would be a refusal on my record etc. etc. the technician at the Portland facility told me that this other person was lazy and all their supposed to do is just take random SMALL samples.

In other words whisking the hair.

The other issue that I asked is that because my hair is waist length, and I don’t drink and I’ve never done drugs but that’s not the point, is how far back can they go in your history. If you look at that sample, that at least 10 years with a history. Just saying

With drug use down in the industry there is no reason for hair test and I enjoy my freedoms more then giving the government more information then they need! If there was an industry wide problem or within a certain company then let’s look at that company and not all drivers! Then what do we give up our DNA also some day in order to get a CDL?

Personally I have no issue with hair folical testing which those carriers do currently to be considered for a company or contractor. The issue is as the only means crosses boundaries. One carriers focus is to have the hair test results entered into the new database. The places a drivers ligitimare medical information into a system accessible by outside reviewers without a drivers consent. A clear violation of HIPPA Laws! It is also another means to place more financial burdo on the independent and small carrier operations. Large carriers continue to chisel away on squeezing independents. Why? We can provider superior service!

With the decriminalizing of marijuana in some states making it legal for recreational use the testing parameters must be changed to reflect influence as well as simple usage. Alcohol for instance can be measured and a legal limit is set. The same needs to be applied to marijuana too. A person that uses marijuana once risks a positive reading of use weeks later but may or may not still be under the influence. A zero tolerance policy may work but could drastically reduce potential hiring of otherwise qualified drivers. It’s an important subject and worth everyone’s time to get involved and set aside personal opinions or feelings too look at current and future research before painting with a broad brush and labeling the occasional user as a chronic threat…I’m just saying.

Having drugs in your system should be a instant ban from operating a heavy vehicle. Ethics should tell people that driving under the influence is a disregard to the people you share the road with. Whether or not you are still affected by the substance, you still made the choice to use. That, in itself should make you accountable.
If it were up to me, I would have more tests to remove the careless individuals from the industry, before they are employed.

What does states legalizing marijuana have to do with anything about hair follicle testing? You think it’s ok to take 10 days off and smoke weed if you live in one of those states? We are under FEDERAL regulations. Marijuana is illegal under FEDERAL regulations. Therefore, you can’t smoke it at all, no matter what state you live in. If you want to smoke, find another career. I’m sure mcdonalds is hiring.